The questions
1 Which polymath scammed the French lottery in 1730?
2 Dutch monarchs are buried in what city’s Nieuwe Kerk?
3 What produces a pyroclastic flow?
4 In US presidential politics, what is a ‘faithless elector’?
5 Which philosopher won the Booker prize?
6 The world’s population passed what milestone in November?
7 Lasting from 1958 until 1971, what was the UAR?
8 What economic phenomenon can be cost push or demand pull?
What links:
9 Fellowes; Turpin; Hathaway; Soros; Mallett?
10 Hello; OK; Kerrang; Shoot?
11 Bixby; Cortana; Siri; Alexa?
12 Ap; bar; bin; Fitz; Mac?
13 Alanis Morissette; Whoopi Goldberg; Morgan Freeman; George Burns?
14 First to Seventh; Barons’; Albigensian; Northern?
15 Indian; Javan; Sumatran; white; black?
The answers
1 Voltaire.
2 Delft.
3 Volcano.
4 Electoral college voter who goes against the state’s vote.
5 Iris Murdoch (The Sea, the Sea in 1978).
6 Eight billion.
7 United Arab Republic.
8 Inflation.
9 Enid Blyton’s Famous Five: Julian; Dick; Anne; George; Timmy.
10 Magazines with (missing) exclamation marks in the title.
11 Digital assistants: Samsung; Microsoft; Apple; Amazon.
12 Patronymic prefixes: Welsh; Aramaic; Arabic; Anglo-Norman; Irish & Scottish Gaelic.
13 Played God on film: Dogma; A Little Bit of Heaven; Evan Almighty; Oh, God!
14 Crusades.
15 Rhinoceros species.
